Stats

Trying to get the hang of my copy of Manga Studio 5. It's touted as being like a hybrid between Paint Tool Sai and Adobe Photoshop. This version of the stylized tiger got the flat, cell-shaded treatment using essentially nothing but the pen tools.

I think I like this version over the other. I'm curious to try this program. I never got a chance to work with SAI or even know the benefits, but have seen a lot of art form people who do use it and the one thing that strikes me is how nice and clean the lines come out!

I snatched it up on Amazon for $25, but it is supposedly the limited version that doesn't include tools for comic boxes, speech balloons, etc. Which is fine for me. I like SAI's lines better (they "lift off" nicer than MS's), but there's a greater capacity to handle large files in Manga Studio.

Having made several little pictures now I would have to say YES, it is accurate, although it's taken me some time to get used to the ink stabilizer. I'm fond of the real media tools also, but I think I'll need to get to know the program more before I can punch out things besides comic-esque flat work. It's the equal of SAI easily. The main thing that drives me crazy currently is that there isn't a transform-deform tool. You can scale, flip, etc but not deform the selection. I haven't messed with the font or speech bubble tools yet, but Photoshop will still have the more powerful filters, adjustments, etc. But so far? Yeah it's a solid art program. I only have the regular Manga Studio 5, not the EX version which comes with comic panel tools and some other extras.